Malta vs. Italy: Winners and Losers from Euro 2016 Qualifier

Italy edged Malta 1-0 in Ta’ Qali on Monday and looked shaky in doing it.

Graziano Pelle’s debut goal for the Azzurri was the only positive takeaway for the guests, who dominated the match territorially but lacked incision in the final third.

Both sides had a man sent off during the encounter—Michael Mifsud for Malta and Leonardo Bonucci for Italy—and referee Ovidiu Hategan was quite busy throughout what turned out to be a physical affair.

But with the three points, the Azzurri maintained their 100 percent start to Euro 2016 qualifying while Malta, who have yet to win or draw, continue to prop up Group H.

Following are some of the winners and losers from the contest.

Winner: Graziano Pelle, Who Scored on His Italy Debut

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Italy’s 1-0 win over Malta will be quickly forgotten—by everyone, that is, except Graziano Pelle.

The Southampton forward was called into the Azzurri squad for the first time in his career ahead of matches against Azerbaijan and Malta, and in the latter he both started and scored for his country for the first time.

As far as goals go, Pelle’s was anything but spectacular, but he was in the right position at the right time following Andrew Hogg’s initial save on Ciro Immobile following Manuel Pasqual’s in-swinging corner.

Loser: Michael Mifsud, Who Got Himself Ejected in the 1st Half

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There was never a question about it—Michael Mifsud deserved to be shown a red card in the 26th minute.

Throwing himself into a high, studs-up challenge on Alessandro Florenzi, the Malta captain left Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan with little choice but to send him off.

Incidentally, the hosts seem to play their best football in the 10 or 15 minutes following his ejection, and on the balance of play they can generally hold themselves high following what was a competitive match.

Winners: Andrei Agius and Ryan Camilleri, Who Were Heroic in Defense for Malta

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But for the bravery of the Malta defense, Italy might have scored two or three more goals on Monday.

But as it turned out, they were frustrated time and again by defenders Ryan Camilleri and Andrei Agius, neither of whom did much wrong over the 90 minutes in defense of the Malta goal.

It was Camilleri who managed to clear the ball time and again from his position on the left-hand side of the hosts’ back three, and Agius did well in the air whenever the guests put in a set piece.

Agius also completed an impressive 86 percent of his passes on Monday (statistics courtesy WhoScored.com).

Loser: Leonardo Bonucci, Who Will Now Miss the Croatia Clash

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It was general sloppiness that led to Leonardo Bonucci’s ejection in the second half.

With almost every Italy player committed in Malta’s half of the pitch, a quick counter-attack meant that Bonucci was left to play catch-up with Andre Schembri, which he was unable to do.

Having fouled the attacker as the last man back, the Juventus defender was handed his marching orders and, as a result of the incident, will miss next month’s showdown with Croatia at San Siro.

Winner: Marco Verratti, Who Was the Metronome

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He made a handful of clumsy tackles and was lucky to escape a booking, but overall Marco Verratti put in a solid performance against Malta and kept things ticking for his side in possession.

Although Italy didn’t create much in the way of goalscoring opportunities following Graziano Pelle’s opener, Verratti did his best to move the ball quickly and completed 93 percent of his passes on the night.

Loser: Ovidiu Hategan, Who Missed a Handful of Obvious Calls

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Referee Ovidiu Hategan didn’t have the best of nights on Monday.

The Romanian should have booked Marco Verratti for a foul in the first half, and the yellow card he presented to Roderick Briffa just moments later was completely unnecessary.

But his biggest mistake came just four minutes after the restart when Ryan Cammileri fouled Ciro Immobile inside Malta’s 18-yard box.

Italy should have been awarded a penalty, and it ended up being a massive let-off for Malta.